Lobbying "Legitimate" but Needs Reform: UN Report

2005-09-08

Political lobbying is a legitimate business activity and will
play an essential role in fighting poverty, conflict and AIDS, according to a
report published today by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and
international institute AccountAbility.

The report – entitled Towards Responsible Lobbying – recognises that
businesses, by influencing public policy, have the power to combat crises and
help societies to prosper alongside shareholders.

But the report also calls for widespread reform and sets out the first
international proposals for ‘responsible’ lobbying practice.

‘Lobbying may be the most important way in which business contributes to
sustainable development, and to goals such as the elimination of poverty,’ said
Simon Zadek, CEO of AccountAbility and Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government.

‘But lobbying is also one of the few business practices to have escaped close
scrutiny in recent years. Companies have become more responsible in areas such
as financial governance and ethical sourcing; it is now time for them to address
their lobbying.’

Lobbying is a rapidly growing industry employing some 100,000 or more people
worldwide: 17,000 of these in Washington alone and 15,000 in Brussels.

Towards Responsible Lobbying is the result of international consultation with
professional lobbyists as well as with businesses, governments and NGOs.

It warns that demands for total transparency of lobbying may be unrealistic
in a business where success can depend on informality and closed-door meetings.
Furthermore, transparency does not guarantee responsible practice.

Similarly, the report says that regulation – such as compulsory registration
- does not prevent lobbyists from wielding undue or improper influence over
politicians.

The key, according to the UNGC and AccountAbility, is to focus instead on
consistency.

A responsible company, the report argues, is one whose lobbying position is
consistent with its own mission statements, codes of conduct and stated
policies, and universal values such as the UNGC’s Ten Principles and UN’s
Millennium Development Goals.

It goes on to set out a six-step framework for organisations to assess their
own lobbying practices and to identify areas for improvement.

Georg Kell, Executive Head of the United Nations Global Compact, called on
the more than 2,200 companies and NGOs participating in the initiative to ensure
that their lobbying practices are in line with the Global Compact principles and
to espouse the recommendations set out in the report.

‘There are often significant discrepancies between CSR policies on the one
hand and lobbying efforts on the other’, he said. ‘This lack of consistency can
undermine the credibility of corporate responsibility and diminish its benefits.
This report is an important contribution to the ongoing debate over lobbying,
and it helps linking lobbying activities with universal values.’

Towards Responsible Lobbying also calls for international lobbying guidelines
to be developed and says that businesses, governments and civil society must all
play their part in driving change:

Businesses – as the buyers of lobbying services – must influence the
actions of lobbyists and ensure that lobbying focuses on long-term business
strategy rather than the short-term avoidance of costs and regulations.

Governments must be open to working with businesses in formulating policy
and increasing capacity to implement that policy. At the same time, they
must ensure robust controls to prevent lobbyists from wielding undue or
improper influence.

NGOs, some of which have encountered criticism for their campaigning
practices, must be prepared to follow the same responsible lobbying guidelines
as corporate companies.